Chapter 5

Surprising Thalia went exactly how Annabeth had warned Percy it would. Annabeth had stopped him from knocking on her door when his hand was only a couple inches from the door. Percy looked at her and attempted not to sound too annoyed.

"What?"

"I think I should go alone first, you can come up to her at dinner. That way the entire camp will be there. I can almost guarantee that she'll beat you up if we are by ourselves… she'll think we were pranking her about your death. You have to go talk to Chiron anyways! He wasn't positive that you were actually dead, so he won't be that surprised." Annabeth held onto his hands while she spoke, just in case he tried to knock on the door anyways.

"He can wait! He doesn't need a confirmation on whether I'm alive or not! He'll see me at dinner." Percy reasoned.

Annabeth glared at him and responded, "You really need to set your priorities straight! Geez Perce! Is scaring your friend to death honestly more important to you than confirming that you are alive?"

"Oh my Gods Annabeth! Fine. I'll go talk to Chiron. But listen!" Percy exclaimed as Annabeth shooed him away, "I am going to go up to her at dinner no matter what you say! No more excuses! You can't just keep my life a secret forever, okay?"

"Yeah. Great. You'll have your fun… now go talk to Chiron!"

"Okay, I'll see you later" he said, turning to leave.

Just when Annabeth thought she had finally convinced him, Percy spun back toward her, hurling himself at the door. He hit the door with such great force that he stumbled backwards, arms flailing. Annabeth shoved him off the porch, in an attempt to hide him from Thalia. He laid sprawling, face down in a puddle of mud for a minute, twitching slightly.

"Wow. You're such an idiot," Annabeth whispered through gritted teeth, with complete lack of concern for his well being, "Prepare to be pummeled…"

Thalia, in reaction to the crash, ran out of the cabin, equipped with her shield, Aegis, and her sword. At first she only saw Annabeth who was glued to the spot in alarm. Then, as Percy stood up, covered head to toe in mud, she lifted an eyebrow in confusion.

"Who the heck is this freak?"

"Hi Thalia!" called a mud-covered Percy.

At first, Thalia just stood there with a blank expression on her face, recognizing a voice that she had thought would never be heard again.

"Percy!" Thalia shrieked dropping her weapons and throwing her arms around him, almost knocking him over, "omygosh! You were DEAD! No pulse! Dead, dead, DEAD! But now…Percy!" Thalia began to cry and never broke the hug. Annabeth and Percy both had confused expressions on their face; they had never expected this. Thalia suddenly became silent, and pulled back to look Percy in the face. Percy couldn't help it, a grin made its way to his face. Thalia's blank expression slowly transformed into one of anger.

"Percy!" Thalia yelled taking her arms off of him and landing them on her hips,

"What kind of sick joke are you playing here!" She threw punches of anger yelling,

"I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"

Angry tears rolled down her cheeks but she never stopped punching him. Percy began to feel bruises forming, and he caught Thalia's fists mid-punch and said,

"Thalia! Calm. Down."

"Argh! You're telling me to calm down?" Thalia said, ripping her fists from Percy's grip and continuing to hit him relentlessly.

Annabeth began to giggle behind them, taking in their appearance but neither of them noticed. Thalia was now covered in mud also and her face was in an expression halfway between anger and surprise. Percy was smiling at her reaction, even though it was quite painful for him.

Thalia! Calm down!" Percy yelled grabbing her fists once again, looking into her electric blue eyes. Thalia fixed her gaze into the deep, black orbs and suddenly lost her energy to hit him. She looked into his eyes, filled with curiosity as to how he could do that. Annabeth had mentioned to Thalia that Percy's eyes seemed to have a strange ability to control her emotions but Thalia cast the idea aside as a coincidence and wrapped her arms around him.

"You scared me half to death; I thought that I killed you."

"How could you ever think that!"

Thalia pulled back again and lowered her gaze.

"Well, first of all, I let you get beaten up by that Fury-"

"You know that wasn't you're fault!" Percy cut in.

"And…I put that stupid ring on you."

"What ring?" Percy questioned trying to catch her eye.

"Well after you got knocked out, I skewered the fury, and it vaporized. But in its place was this ring…"

Thalia grabbed his hand and stared, but the ring wasn't where she'd last seen it. She spun around to Annabeth, who had stopped laughing, but instead was looking uncomfortably down at her shoes.

"Don't be mad… I took the ring off him. Just as a precaution; in case it did have something to do with what happened." Annabeth said hurriedly.

"Wait when? How did I not notice?" Percy cut in, very confused.

"I think you were in shock from the turn of events… I took it when I kissed you…" Annabeth said quietly, blush creeping into her cheeks.

"Wow!" Thalia yelled sarcastically, "I guess that's what you miss when you're in your cabin for twenty minutes! Geez, you guys!"

"Never mind that! Where did you put it?"Percy said.

"I put it in my cabin along with the rest of my stuff. Is that okay?" Annabeth asked as Thalia turned to face her.

Yeah! Fine! So this isn't a joke? You didn't plan the whole fake death thing?"

"Of course not! What kind of friend would I be if I did that to you?" Annabeth exclaimed.

"Well," Thalia began, "you wouldn't be."

Annabeth smiled at her response, "Why would I want that?"

"Awwww! You're so sweet! Do you forgive me for beating up your boyfriend?"

"Yeah of course! I really didn't mind much." she responded, throwing Percy a smile.

Thalia turned to Percy.

"Do you know what Annabeth needs right now? Hugs from her two favorite people in the world!"

Annabeth scowled as she looked at their bodies which were each splattered with mud. She ran, but Thalia caught up and tackled her.

"Annabeth Jeanette Chase!" Thalia scolded, in a voice that was obviously meant to imitate Annabeth's mom. "It's only proper to hug your friends after you've forgiven each other!"

After Thalia had gotten her to turn around, she attacked Annabeth in a bear hug. Thalia backed off looking quite pleased.

"That wasn't fair! You can't just attack me from behind, and then cover the other side of my body with mud too!"

Annabeth ran back toward the mud puddle and leaned down to pick some up, flinging it at Thalia. It was perfectly aimed, hitting her straight in the face. This was the first move that led to the biggest mud battle to ever take place on Half-blood Hill.

By the time the battle finally ended, twenty of the other campers had joined in. Annabeth, her wavy blond hair dirtied with mud, was one of the last to surrender. Finally, now thoroughly exhausted, she threw her arms above her head in surrender. She got down to the ground and laid there for a second, regaining some energy. Percy walked over to her and reached his hand out to her. She took his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet.

"Beach?" Percy asked Annabeth as she headed off toward the shore, pulling him along.

"Definitely!" Annabeth replied enthusiastically, breaking into a jog.

When they felt the warm sand beneath their feet, they sprinted into the surf, permitting the waves to liberate their bodies of the evidence of their fight. Thalia soon found them there, having just retired from the excitement.

"Hey! Can I join you? …or would you rather be alone?" Thalia grinned and a small laugh escaped her.

Thalia burst into laughter as Annabeth glared at her as fiercely as she possible could.

"May I ask what you find so dang amusing, Thalia dearest?" Annabeth asked, her cheeks turning somewhat red with embarrassment.

"You make it too easy! It's so fun to poke fun at you!"

"Oh, well I guess I'll have to make it harder then…" Annabeth joked.

Now that most of the soil had been removed from their skin, they took their leave from the gentle waves and walked up to the grassy area that lay just past the sand. Annabeth let herself fall onto the soft grass and closed her eyes, clearing her mind of all thought.

"I'm gunna go to dinner… I'll see you guys later!" Thalia called, walking back towards the Pavilion.

"Okay we'll join you in a minute!" Percy yelled after her. He laid down on his stomach next to Annabeth who had opened her eyes and was patting the spot next to her. He brushed her hair behind her ears and lost himself in her beautiful, grey eyes.

"Percy?" Annabeth whispered.

Percy was snapped back to reality by the sound of her voice.

"Yeah?"Percy answered, still staring into her eyes.

"What are you thinking?"she asked in as sweet a voice as she could manage, hoping to get the answer out of him. She had a feeling that he was hiding something.

"I don't know… everything."

"Wow. That's a lot, I don't think that's good for you." she giggled. "Like what exactly?"

Percy sighed and let out all of the thought that he'd been trying to hold since the first day of camp.

"I can't help but feel like an outsider. I've been here for a month now and have no idea as to who I am! It's so frustrating sometimes, knowing that my dad doesn't care enough to claim me."

"The gods do everything for a reason… besides I know exactly who you are! You are Percy Jackson, the most amazing guy I've met and that's enough for me." Annabeth reminded him.

After a moment of thought, Annabeth spoke up. "You're still not telling me something."

Thalia looked at her watch and groaned. Annabeth and Percy still hadn't come to dinner and the food was going to be cleared momentarily. Thalia cleared her dishes and walked out of the pavilion to find Percy and Annabeth. They were still talking to each other when Thalia walked through the trees and into the clearing.

"Geez you guys! How long does it take? You've been here for half an hour. You've almost missed dinner!"

They looked up at the unexpected visitor and Annabeth jumped to her feet.

"Are you serious, Thalia?" Percy sighed, looking extremely annoyed with her presence.

"Yup. I am. And contrary to your beliefs, annoying you is a great use of my time." Thalia smiled at his expression.

Percy, trying to hide his irritation, got up and put his arm around Annabeth leading her toward the pavilion.

"Don't you even begin to think you've won! I'll get you to tell me later." Annabeth muttered under her breath.

A few weeks later, Annabeth woke feeling strangely alert. She sat bolt upright in her bed and stared into the darkness. The alarm clock by her bed read 4:07. Just as she began to wonder why she'd woken so early, the darkness converted into a flurry of colors, giving her the sensation of flying. The colors stopped as quickly as they had started, leaving her sitting in the exact spot where she had been before. Annabeth blinked away the spots on her vision that had been caused by light streaming through the window. She looked over to her night stand once again.

10:00… She stared at the glowing numbers waiting for them to change back to 4:07. But nothing happened. Confused by what she had just experienced, Annabeth threw back the sheets and rose from the bed. She must have fallen asleep again which meant,

"Crap! I'm late…"She glanced around the room, but the cabin was unoccupied. After she had gotten dressed, she walked out the door only to find the other cabins vacant as well. She closed her eyes, willing herself to think of a logical explanation. Capture the flag. She had missed the announcements due to her absence at the beginning of dinner the night before, so wouldn't have known about the game. Annabeth sighed out of relief when her longing for something logical was fulfilled, and made her way to the forest.

On her way, she spotted Travis Stoll walking briskly over to the forest, grabbing some armor on the way.

"Travis!" Annabeth called, "Do we have capture the flag?"

Travis didn't acknowledge she had spoken, only continued toward his destination.

"Travis! I know you can hear me! Don't even think about pulling this prank now… Just answer me!" Annabeth yelled as she ran to catch up with him.

Annabeth set her hand on his shoulder and prepared to hear his famous after-pranking-laughter. But Travis spun on his heel and stared at her… no, through her. His eyes were staring through her face at the scenery behind her.

"Travis, it's not funny! You're being such a jerk! Can't you save this for later?" Annabeth questioned forcefully as she ran away from him toward the forest.

She chanced a look back, and stopped when she saw that he was still rooted to the spot, his face paled to a ghostly white and his jaw dropped. Annabeth could see the shock in his eyes. Sure, he was good at lying, but not that good.

"W-what's the matter? Travis…?"

She found herself walking toward him and she touched his hand with her fingertips in an attempt to get him to respond. He jerked his hand away from her touch and stumbled backwards, still staring at her as if she were invisible. She felt her head to check to make sure that some idiot hadn't put her invisibility cap on her while she was sleeping. It wasn't there. Travis walked slowly toward the forest, keeping his eyes locked on and avoiding the area where Annabeth presently stood. When she couldn't think of an explanation for his behavior, she continued to make her way to the forest, feeling anxious.

She reached the edge of the trees and saw a flash of blue and red, deep in the forest. Annabeth ran toward them, recognizing them as helmets.

She ran across the forest toward the place where Chiron usually stood, watching the game. But on her way she saw Percy, guarding the blue team's goal. There was no one else in sight. To her horror, as she walked in his direction, comforted by his presence, a huge creature grew from the shadows. As it reached out to grab him, Annabeth sprinted to close the distance, grabbing a sword that had been left by another player. She yelled a warning to Percy, but it only seemed to distract him. She jabbed her blade at the monster as she reached out for Percy's hand, but neither reached their objective.

"Percy!" She screamed as her fingertips brushed against his hand and the monster grabbed his arm. She fell to the ground as it melted into the shadows, taking Percy with him. As she descended down, she didn't stop at the solid ground. The falling continued and colors whirled and changed again until she was surrounded by night. When the falling ceased, she was sitting in her bed in a cold sweat.

She eyed her alarm clock once again. 4:15…

Her eyes closed, and she willed her breath to slow down.

Yvette, the sister Annabeth was closest to, ran to her bunk and kneeled down next to her.

"Annabeth? Are you all right? I heard you scream." She stammered, her grey eyes illuminated with moonlight.

"oh… sorry, did I wake the others?"

"Yeah, but they don't mind. I told them I'd go talk to you. So, what's up? Nightmare?"

"Yeah, but its fine. I'll get over it."

"Don't lie to me, Annie!" Yvette uttered as she took in Annabeth's fearful look, her voice surprisingly serious. Although she had not known Annabeth for long, she had already mastered the art of reading her expressions.

"Thanks for your concern Yvie, but really, I'm fine. I just need to sleep it off." Annabeth asserted.

"Annabeth… if you want to talk, I'm always here." Yvette assured, "I'm stubborn too, remember. You'll have to tell me at some point. You can tell me tomorrow, okay?"

Annabeth sat up as Yvette rose from her knees and hugged her sister.

"You're the best, Yvie! Thanks," she voiced.

"No prob! G'night!"

Annabeth rolled her eyes at her sister's abbreviation and watched her small form disappear into the next room of the cabin.

"Wait! Yvie?"

Yvette peered around the door, back at her sister.

"Hmm?" she hummed in response.

"This is going to sound random but… Are we playing capture the flag tomorrow?"

"Of course not! Chiron didn't mention it in the announcements. But I guess you wouldn't know that, would you?" Yvette teased softly, a smile playing on her face as she turned to leave. She found Annabeth's love for Percy quite amusing. She swore to herself in that moment that she would never act so ridiculous if she fell in love.

Exhausted, Annabeth was quickly captivated by sleep, and drifted back into the sweeter, less traumatizing element of her mind's eye.

"Annabeth? Annabeth? For gods' sake, will you get out of bed!"

Annabeth open her eyes, and looked up at Thalia who had picked up an extra pillow, intending to launch it in her direction.

"Thank you!" Thalia scoffed with a rather sarcastic tone.

"No problem, Thal," Annabeth countered just as roughly, sliding out of bed and running her fingers through her tangled hair.

Annabeth glared at her friend and protested her company.

"What do you want? I was sleeping!"

"Yeah, and you were going to keep sleeping right though practice. It's 9:30!"

Annabeth moaned and ran about the room collecting her sword and shield. She changed in 20 seconds flat and tied her long hair up in a messy bun.

"Okay, ready!" she yelled grabbing her stuff as she hopped on one foot, attempting to slip into her other shoe.

They took off toward the fighting arena for their 9:30 swordsmanship class and casually slid into the group, pretending they hadn't been late. Annabeth walked over to Percy and took his hand as they listened to Chiron instruct them. Percy couldn't help but smile at Annabeth's appearance. She had blindly matched a pair of jean shorts with a large T-shirt and her usually naturally perfect hair was thrown up in what Percy thought looked like an awkward pony-tail.

"Well, you look adorably disheveled, Wise Girl. What happened?"

Annabeth glared at him, reaching her hand up to his head to deliberately ruin his already imperfect hair.

"So do you," she mocked, faking innocence, "and I had about thirty seconds to get ready. Now come on and let's practice! We're going to get in trouble; do you want to be stuck doing dishes for a week?" she added, trying to change the subject.

Percy smirked at her, enjoying her attention.

"Are you ready to be pummeled? Again…?"

Percy saw a mischievous grin cross her face and smiled back at her.

"You're on!"

On the mark, Annabeth swung her blade at Percy's sword with all her might, trying to knock it from his grasp.

"I won't give you the victory that easily!"

"Good! I need a challenge every once in a while!"She yelled back as she feinted left, then spun, forcing Percy's slash hit her across the armor protecting her back. When she turned back, he was staring into her eyes, but she refused to return the gaze. They went on seeming perfectly matched for five minutes longer. Both were breathing hard, but not about to give in to the other's pressure.

Finally, Annabeth crossed her sword over his and twisted it out of his hands. As it clattered to the ground, She held her sword up to his neck and smiled at him, clearly proud of her victory.

"Wow Perce! You just got owned!" Connor Stoll shouted from the sidelines where he had been watching the rematch.

Percy was about to leave the arena when Annabeth shouted, "Chiron? Is it okay if I have one more small match with Percy? I want to experiment with something."

"Ummm… sure, I suppose if nobody objects to it," Chiron said, scanning the small group waiting for their turn in the arena.

Percy gave Annabeth a questioning look and began to fight with her, just as aggressively as before. The match started out the same way; they were perfectly harmonized with the same level of skill. Then Annabeth took a deep breath and looked up from his sword into his eyes which by now were cold with tenacity. As their eyes met, a familiar flood of exhaustion consumed her, causing her to drop her guard long enough for Percy to strike the blade from her loose fingers. Percy saw her knees buckle and quickly slid his arm around her waist before she fell.

"Annabeth! Are you okay?"

Annabeth stared at the ground, completely drained. She thought back to her suspicions from the day that she first met Percy. He had come to the cabin to help her, and healed her when nothing else could. Only time had helped her fatigued condition to some extent. Annabeth used the energy she had to look back into his eyes, which were now worried and sympathetic. With his gaze came a sense of relief, as energy rushed back into her body.

Annabeth continued to stare in complete awe of what had just happened. Percy looked just as shocked as Annabeth, as he felt her weight lift from his shoulders. He kept his arm around her for a moment, making sure that she had recovered.

"Annabeth? Are you all right?"

"I'll live. Can I talk to you after we finish at the climbing wall?"

"Yeah, but are you sure you don't want to take a break? You looked like you were about to faint!"

"I'm fine. I'm absolutely positive that I'll be okay."

"Promise?"

"Percy. Honestly? Yes I promise!

As soon as Percy finished falling off the climbing wall, Annabeth dragged him from the ground and off to the side saying,

"Percy! Focus, we need to talk."

"What is so important that you needed to interrupt my heroic moment?" Percy countered, obviously irritated.

"Percy, you really don't need my help falling off the wall."

"Can we just get to the point here?"

Annabeth took a deep breath and said,

"Percy, tell me what you're hiding. Now."

We worked really hard on this chap. so read, read, READ! Remember to only review if you are awesome! Only awesome people and flamingos are allowed to review! Thanks!

3 This is a Flamingo head. Its beautiful, dont deny it

P.S. REVIEW!

~PerfectlyPlasticPinkFlamingos 3